Health Registries

Health Information Web Site Update

The Health and Longevity Committe is actively updating the health web site. If there is Newfoundland/Veterinary Health Information that you would like to see here or that you think would be useful to the Newfoundland dog community, please e-mail the committee for consideration of your suggestion.

News from Health & Longevity Committee

Getting Serious about SAS

The Health and Longevity Committee of the Newfoundland Club of America applauds the research results of Dr. Joshua Stern DVM, DACVIM, of North Carolina State University and his collaborators, and we are excited about this important step in possibly helping to reduce the incidence of subaortic stenosis (SAS) in Newfoundlands. We must note, however, that this research (1) has not yet been peer reviewed in appropriate journals and (2) has not yet been corroborated by other independent studies. The Health and Longevity Committee therefore recommends that current testing protocols continue to be followed: auscultation of puppies before sale, auscultation of all dogs after one year of age, and echo/Doppler of dogs that present with a murmur. Breeders should continue to use the currently recommended protocols for screening of their breeding stock and not any current preliminary genetic studies. Breeders are encouraged to continue to enter their dogs in this and future genetic studies of diseases affecting Newfoundlands.

Update on CHIC DNA Bank Collections from National Specialty

Many, many thanks to everyone that helped and had their dog’s blood drawn. As some may have noticed, there has been a delay in getting the samples to OFA/CHIC. This year, the Van Andel Research Institute/Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium provided the DNA banking. They are a research group in Grand Rapids, MI working with support from OFA and the AKC Canine Health Foundation on malignant melanoma, lymphoma, osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and malignant histiocytosis. Four of these five cancers occur with some frequency in Newfoundlands and CHCC is recruiting samples from dogs with confirmed disease. VARI/CHCC provided supplies for the clinic, paid for shipping the samples and then extracted the DNA from the samples. OFA charges owners twenty dollars per sample to process the samples and paperwork when samples are sent directly to OFA. VARI/CHCC’s “fee” for free processing is keeping a small portion of the DNA for control samples in their research. The rest of the DNA will be sent to the CHIC DNA Repository and should be at OFA within a matter of weeks. The clinic was very successful with 185 new dogs added to the database. This compares to 141 done last year in the same location when the cost was $10 per dog. The success of the clinic was no doubt mainly because the DNA processing was free this year but we were also prominently located at the front of the grooming building. We also had “aggressive marketing” in place. The cost to NCA was hiring technicians to draw blood and man the clinic.

New- DNA Clinic Manual

Current Research Center

Van Andel Research Institute Laiunches New Canine Cancer Studies

The Van Andel Research Institute, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is pleased to share that we have received a “Grand Opportunities” (GO grant) from the National Institutes of Health. This is enabling the Institute to expand its canine cancer studies, which started with a project investigating hemangiosarcoma in Clumber spaniels 18 months ago, into a much broader research program. We are launching a new center of excellence in canine genetics and genomics. The first and most important program is the Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium (CHCC), which is headed by Drs. Jeff Trent (TGen), Nick Duesbery (Van Andel Research Institute), and Paul Meltzer (National Cancer Institute/NIH). READ MORE

Timely Topic - Heatstroke

The dog days of summer are rapidly approaching and many areas of the country are already experiencing very high termperature. Our Newfs are at risk and need us to pay special attention to their risk of heat sroke and death from overheating especially in closed environments like cars and garages.